


To Go Back

by DarkCellar



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, kylux - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren Fluff, Darth Tantrum and his Evil Space Ginger, Domestic Fluff, Family Feels, Fluff, Fluffy Ending, Force Bond (Star Wars), I Ship It, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Kylux - Freeform, M/M, Post-Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Romantic Fluff, Time Travel, Young Ben Solo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2018-06-02
Packaged: 2019-05-17 00:45:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14822018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkCellar/pseuds/DarkCellar
Summary: Time travel is a concept that’s new, even to a galaxy far, far away. But when the brilliant engineers of The First Order invent a way for people to travel back in time to their memories, Kylo Ren takes full advantage of it.There’s one day in particular that he feels the need to re-live, to enjoy the presence of those that shared the day with him ... and to try and piece together how things went so wrong.





	To Go Back

He looked himself over carefully. He was more or less the same height (he had hit the pinnacle of his growth spurt by around 14 years old), but other things were different. 

He was rather skinny, not yet having built up the muscle that he would later acquire from Snoke’s training regiment, and his hair was a bit shorter. The most fascinating thing of all, to him, was his scars. 

Or, rather, his lack of them. 

His face was smooth and unlined, the left side of his torso was whole, untouched by the blast of a bowcaster. And, without looking, he knew that his arms and legs were uniformly pale and even, as of yet unmarked by the dozens of cuts and scars and stabs that came from years of intensive combat. His complexion had gone back to the oily consistency that had always annoyed him as a young man, but today, he embraced that feeling, that unignorable reminder of youth and vitality.

When Hux had first told him that the First Order engineers had created a pill that allowed one to effectively time-travel, Kylo had scoffed at the idea, flat-out refusing to believe it.

“Laugh all you want,” Hux told him, sipping at his tea, “But it’s true. Our men have made remarkable strides with this, Kylo. Do you have any idea how much power goes into being able to control time, itself?”

Kylo had accompanied Hux and Supreme Leader Snoke to the engineering room, and had listened attentively while one of the ‘geniuses’ in question explained the success and the pitfalls of their newest creation.

“We’ve put the serum inside of these pills,” he had said, handing one small red capsule each to the three observers. “The way it works is, the traveller focuses on a particular date, takes the pill and lies down. The pill will then take that person to the date in question, where they will wake up in their own body, but as it was at that date. When the time they wish to explore is over, they wake back up in the present day.”

“Have you perfected future time yet?”, Snoke asked in his deep, gravelly voice.

“Not yet, Supreme Leader. As of this moment the pills are very centralized devices; connected to one person and their memories at a time. At this present time, users can only go back to days that they have personally experienced. For example it would be impossible for the General to go to a date in my childhood, unless he had physically been present on the date in question. But we’re working on correcting that.”

“What about altering the events of the past?”, Hux asked him.

“That’s another concept we have to perfect, General. We’ve done preliminary test runs with this, and we found that changing small events in the past did not alter the present day timeline.”

Hux and Snoke both had a variety of questions for the engineers, but Kylo remained thoughtfully silent. An idea had rocked its way into his mind, so tantalizing that he was all but salivating with it. When it was time for them to go, two of the pills that they had been holding and examining made their way back to the engineers. One made its way, unnoticed, into the pockets of his robe.

Later that night, when Hux had come over, Kylo confessed to having stolen a pill, and timidly told him what he planned to do.

“Are you insane, Kylo?!”, Hux had yelled at him, his face red. “This is dangerous! You heard the men; there are still kinks that need to be worked out.”

Kylo had sighed and sat down heavily on the couch. “I don’t care. I have to do this.”

Hux sat down beside him. After a moment he gently took hold of Kylo’s hands, squeezing them.

“You heard what he said, Ky,” he said, very softly. “You wouldn’t be able to use this yet to change the past.”

“I don’t intend on changing it. I just want to relieve that one day. Can you understand that?”

“What was so significant about this one day, that you would take a risk like this?”

“It was ... this was the last time my family was together. ALL of us, in the same place, together.”

“How old were you?”

“Either 16 or 17, probably 17.”

“I though you didn’t, er, turn until your twenties.”

“I didn’t. But after this day we were never ALL together again. Sometimes it’d just be mom, or dad would come to see me on his way back from a job, but never all at the same time.”

Hux seemed confused, still. “Did something significant happen?”

Kylo shook his head. “No. We had dinner, same as always.”

“And ... and this is important enough to go back and relive? Dinner?”

Kylo nodded. He couldn’t explain it any better than that, and he felt stupid, trying. But it was important to him, and he was determined to go through with it, no matter the consequence.

Hux saw this in his eyes, sighed, and kissed him.

“You’re lucky that I love you,” he said, leaning against Kylo’s side. “If anyone else was telling me this, I’d be dragging them by the hair to medical bay, for a psychological evaluation.”

Kylo smiled and put his arm around Hux, hugging him. “Sometimes I think I should be dragging you there, myself, for being in love with me.”

Kylo’s experiment had had to be put on hold for a few days, as Hux insisted that he wait until he was off work and able to monitor him, as he slept.

“You’re absolutely positive about this?”, Hux asked him, as Kylo laid down in his bed, preparing for his journey.

“I am.”

Hux leaned over him and kissed him, before giving him the little pill.

“Good luck. I’ll be here when you come back.”

So Kylo had swallowed the capsule. At first nothing seemed to happen, and he cursed to himself over believing this could work. Then all at once his eyelids felt intolerably heavy, and there was a solid vibrating in his head unlike anything he had ever felt before. He repeated to himself the day in question, repeatedly, until at last he lost consciousness.

Waking up now, in his old-young body, was surreal. He looked around himself; a small, tan hut. A pallet on the floor. A shelf containing a gray-bound, worn book that Kylo knew, without looking, was one of the sacred Jedi texts. Next to that were numerous sheets of paper, and a wooden box with perforated holes on top, some holding quilled pens. Kylo walked over to this and touched it gingerly, with a smile. He used to spend hours, when not training, sitting and copying the ancient scrolls in his calligraphic handwriting.

“Ben!”, called a voice from outside. Kylo’s heart stopped, as he stepped out to meet it.

Dark gray robes. Long hair that was a mixture of gray, brown and black. Warm eyes, and a smile that wrinkled up at the corners.

It was all Kylo could do, not to tackle him and hug him. The last real image he had of this man, was seeing his mechanical hand sticking out from underneath a pile of smoldering rubbish.

“Master Skywalker,” he finally replied, bowing his head. Back then he had never publicly referred to his uncle as ‘uncle’; he addressed him the same as the other students. “Did you summon me?”

Luke smiled, putting his hand on his shoulder. “I did indeed. I wished to remind you that you and I are leaving for a short trip, in a while. So be prepared; we leave within an hour.”

Kylo nodded and bowed his head again, keeping it bowed until Luke had moved away. He knew where they were going; at least once a week, Kylo’s mother would invite the two of them for dinner. The two would make a day out of it, arriving in the early afternoon to talk and visit with Leia (and Han, when he wasn’t away), and staying until just before sunset. Luke never mentioned his destination to his other students, as the information could clearly create jealous feelings between them and his nephew. After all, all of the other students had, in the traditional Jedi practice, been cut off from their families.

Kylo stood and watched as the other students made their way into the bright morning sunshine.

He saw Marcadeus and Jelilla, together as always, separate from the main group that gathered for morning meditation. Those two would be the first to join him when Kylo initiated his coup and takedown of their fellow classmates. They, along with 3 other older, quiet students, would form what Kylo referred to as the Knights of Ren.

But looking at them now, Kylo could see no trace of the evil that they would become. In the ‘future’, Jellila was the mother of Marcadeus’ children, and the family ruled over a large stretch of First Order-occupied land in the outer rim regions. They would do sickening, despicable things in order to maintain their power, and the faction of the army they trained was instrumental in helping Snoke take over more territory as the years went on.

But none of that was present today. This morning, they were simply two gawky, introverted young adults who were trying to sneak a few minutes to hold hands, maybe steal a quick kiss, before Master Skywalker caught them.

Morning exercises went quickly, or maybe it just seems quick to Kylo. It was strange; he knew every single thing that was going to be said, or happen, before it actually did. The only anomaly in the scenario was when HE himself said or did something that hadn’t happened the first time around.

He knew when one of the younger students, a 5 year old boy, would fall over on his face during the balancing exercises and start crying. He knew when Amilyn, a 12 year old girl from the mid rim system, would be startled by the shrill shriek of a bird overhead and nearly cut the arm of Typhrus, an 8 year old who had a sickening penchant for chewing leftover animal fat.

When the exercises were over, Luke informed them that he was taking Ben on a short journey, and he dictated that Lannivel would be left in charge. A tall, studious boy who always kept to himself, the second oldest student there (Kylo being the oldest at 17), Lannivel would be the one to put up the most difficult fight against Kylo and the other renegade students. He was even more skilled with a lightsaber than Kylo was, and he had been able to maintain his calm when everybody else was screaming and panicked. In the end it took nearly all 6 of them to bring him down.

If he hadn’t died a Jedi, he would have made a terrific Knight.

. . .

Kylo was having a hard time adjusting to the surreal quality of the situation. He could remember how he had acted the first time he had lived this day; he had been quiet and sullen, hardly speaking a word unless directly spoken to. He remembered being angry over Luke’s refusal to let him go, alone, to Lothal, to acquire some supplies that a contact of Luke’s was donating to their temple. Luke’s reasoning was that Lothal could be dangerous, and he didn’t feel as though his nephew had the sufficient pilot skills to navigate the course there on his own. Kylo of course had felt he was more than ready to prove he could be responsible. Kylo hadn’t mentioned the reason of his sulky attitude to either parent, but both had sensed the anger in him, and it made for a somewhat tense afternoon.

THIS time, though, Kylo couldn’t have acted like that even if he tried.

Walking up the stone walkway to the little house, Kylo’s heart was pounding so loudly in his ear that he couldn’t hear whatever it was Luke was talking to him about. He could feel that he was sweating, and wiped quickly at his face with the edge of his shirt.

Chewbacca had answered the door, and, as was his custom, lifted Kylo right off his feet in a big hug. It didn’t hurt, although Kylo could practically feel his side twitching with agony, as his mind brought up images of being shot with the bowcaster.

He could see his mother in the kitchen, head bent over the stove, humming. He gulped and made his way slowly in to her.

“Mom.”

She turned around, and her face lit up like the sunrise. Her tiny feet carried her across the room in seconds, and she was covering his face with kisses. Kylo melted, and he would have just broken down sobbing in her arms, if at that moment a deep, gruff voice from behind hadn’t said, “Maker, don’t drown the boy, Leia.”

_I know what I have to do, but I don’t know if I have the strength to do it. Will you help me?_

_Yes; anything_.

He didn’t realize he was staring, until his dad said, “What’s the matter with you, kid? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Before he could answer, Leia quipped, “It must feel like that to him, considering you’re hardly ever here when he comes to visit.”

Han shrugged charmingly. He smiled the grin that his son had inherited from him, and replied, “Gotta stay busy, Princess. This school of his is costing us an arm and a leg.”

“You mean the one he goes to, for free, because we happen to be good friends with the instructor?”

“That’s the one.”

Kylo followed his parents into the living room, and sat between them on the couch. He was so happy to be back home, so enthralled to be sitting in this cozy room, listening to his father and Chewbacca tell more of their tall tales in regards to their most recent adventures. The smells of pipe smoke, the roses in his mother’s garden and the tantalizing aroma of roasted bantha, Kylo’s favorite back then, filled the air. He closed his eyes and took a deep whiff, holding it in, trying to retain not just the smells but the feelings they evoked, to bring back with him to the present day.

“Ben? Are you okay?”, his mother asked, interrupting his internal conversation.

Kylo opened his eyes and smiled. “I’m okay, mom. I’m just thinking.”

“Less thinking and more doing, son. How about you show us some of the things Luke’s been teaching you?”

Whenever Han would ask this question, Kylo would almost always get angry. He knew that his father had mixed feelings about the Force, or ‘magic tricks’, as he often referred to them. Kylo would get defensive, thinking that Han asking him this was his way of mocking his son. But as an adult, looking back he realized it was Han’s attempt to try and be involved in his son’s life. Kylo realized, now, how hard it must have been for Han, to be a part of this family, to be the ‘ordinary’ one in a group of superbly talented individuals.

Kylo wished, now, that he had spent more time with the man who loved him so much. That he had taken Han up on more offers to go on hauls with him and Chewie. That he would have let Han teach him the things that Han felt it important for his son to know.

So Kylo obliged his request now, levitating objects and taking turns reading both his and Chewbacca’s minds.

Chewbacca asked to see the lightsaber he had recently crafted, and Kylo pulled it off his belt, carefully igniting it. He was momentarily surprised; he was so used to seeing his red-lighted trilby that it legitimately startled him, seeing bright blue shooting out of a single vent.

“Ben!”, Leia called from the kitchen. “Turn that off before you cut somebody’s arm off! And all of you, come in: it’s dinner time.”

The meal was one of Leia’s usual masterpieces, but Ben could hardly eat. He spent most of his time staring in awe as the adults ate, talked, and laughed around him.

When he had been a kid, he could barely stand to be with all of them at once. It had always seemed to him that his parents, Chewie and Luke were all part of an exclusive club, one that, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t be a part of.

A club bonded by sneaking into the palace of a Tattoine gangster to free Kylo’s father from his carbonite prison.

A club that had worked, in separate but equal ways, to take down an entire empire.

A club that had watched the armor of Darth Vader burn in the moonlight of Endor, while celebrating the return of the Jedi that had been trapped inside.

Thinking about it now, Kylo realized that his parents, and Luke, had done everything they could, to elevate him in life. To make sure that he would never know a life of war, of crime, of uncertainty.

Ironic, how life turns out sometimes.

Kylo shook his head a little as he realized his mother was talking to him.

“I’m sorry; what, mom?”

“I said are you feeling okay? You’ve hardly touched your food.”

Kylo picked up his fork hastily, taking a hearty bite before saying, “Sorry, just ... thinking, again.”

“Why he can’t be that focused during actual class, I’ll never understand,” Luke said, and everyone broke into laughter.

. . .

“It was good seeing you, kid,” Han said, holding out his hand like he had always done.

Han and Chewie had to leave after dessert, saying they needed to get back on the route if they were to make their drop in time. Ben had watched as his father hugged and kissed his mother goodbye ... and he almost burst into tears, yet again.

In the past, he had always thought his parents to be far too physically demonstrative with each other, for two people of their ages. The way Leia clung to Han, they way they whispered and giggled to each other, the way Han’s hands would roam all over his wife’s body, as if they were still young ...

He realized, now, that his parents had had an incredibly strong love, and a bond that was rare in all the galaxy. Nothing could tear them apart ...

... until...

Instead of shaking his dad’s hand, Kylo timidly folded his dad into a hug. It was obvious that Han was confused; the two had never been prone to displays of physical affection like this, even when Kylo had been a child. Kylo’s mind was reeling, trying to accept that this was the ‘last’ time he would see his dad like this, the last time they would have their arms around each other.

Before Han could get overly suspicious, Kylo let him go. He cleared his throat and said, “Hey, dad?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you remember the time you took me with you and Chewie on that haul to Takadoma, to Maz’s palace? And on the way back Chewie accidentally broke the hyperdrive by leaning against the switch too hard, while you were in the refresher?”

“That sounds vaguely familiar,” Han said, still looking confused. “Why?”

“That wasn’t Chewie, that was me. I was being careless with my lightsaber and I slashed right through it. I just ... I just want you to know how sorry I am, for that. I would give up any single thing in my life, to take that moment back. Because you, er, it, didn’t deserve that.”

Han was looking at him incredulously, wondering why Kylo was having such a strong outpouring of emotion over something so seemingly trivial.

“It’s ... it’s okay, kid. That was a long time ago, and it was easily replaced.”

 _But you’re NOT easily replaced_ , Kylo thought to himself, feeling that painful ache rise back up his chest once more. _I took you away from a woman who needed her husband, two men who needed their best friend, and worst of all, a son who still needed his father_.

But he couldn’t say any of that out-loud. He merely repeated his apology, to which Han put a hand on his shoulder, and squeezed.

“You’re forgiven, kid,” he said; and then he did something he hadn’t done since Kylo was a baby. He leaned over and briefly kissed his son’s cheek. “You take care of yourself, now, and I’ll see you hopefully in a few weeks, when I come back.”

But he wouldn’t, or at least, not here at home. After this day the timing never matched up right again. And of course, the very last time Kylo saw him, it would be standing over an open, endless chasm of pain and regret.

But he put a smile on his face and waved as his dad boarded the Falcon, and lifted off into the serene blue sky.

. . .

Going back into the house was difficult, and Kylo felt as though a brick lay in his stomach. It was all he could do to get down the delicious pie his mother insisted he eat more of; all he could do, to participate in the conversation between his mother and Luke.

Eventually the time came that Kylo had been dreading. Luke told Leia that he and Ben should be getting back to the temple now, “before those crazy students of mine burn it down or something.” Kylo couldn’t help but wince at his uncle’s choice of words.

It turned out that Leia had baked an entire separate large pie, as well as two dozen cookies, for Luke to take back to his students. He thanked her and kissed her cheek, before telling Kylo that he would wait for him in the ship, while Kylo said goodbye to his mother.

What could Kylo say?  
How could he leave?

“Bye, baby. Take care of yourself, and I’ll see you next week.”

“Bye, mom,” he said; and then he circled his arms around her and squeezed her tight. He knew he had to let her go, but he couldn’t. He rested his head on her shoulder, his mind going into over-drive, trying to store the details that he knew he had forgotten in the present days. The flowery scent of her perfume. The way her hair, at the moment having only the faintest tracings of gray, curled up at the ends. The way he could feel the Force flowing through her as she stood in his arms, her energy, her light. Kylo internally erased everything he had ever thought about the positioning of strength in the Skywalker family. It wasn’t Luke who was the strongest, it wasn’t Kylo himself, it hadn’t even been Darth Vader. It was Leia. It always had been.

“You’re certainly affectionate today, son,” Leia said, smiling as her son continued to embrace her.

“I just miss you, mom. You have no idea, how much I miss you.”

“Aww, my sweet baby. Well, if it helps, I’ll try and convince Luke that the two of you should come for dinner more often. Okay?”

Eventually he forced himself to let her go, and then he leaned in and kissed her cheek.

“I love you, mama. No matter what happens, or what I do, I always, always will.”

“Same, my little Ewok. Now go; Luke is waiting for you.”

The ride back to the temple was silent. Kylo was trying to put his feelings into perspective, and to pull himself together. He kept glancing at Luke, as they rode along. In a way, he owed Luke the biggest apology of all, for what he would one day do. His actions had broken the man who had always seemed as strong as a mountain to his nephew.

Kylo looked at him now, so calm, so wise. So content with his life, his teachings, and his students who had become his life.

“Uncle,” he said abruptly, as they got closer to the school, “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“Grandfather. You’ve ... you’ve always told me, that you knew grandfather had goodness in him, still. That even after all he had done, you could sense the good in him.”

“That’s right, I did.”

They had landed now, and began walking towards the temple. The other students could be seen in the distance, engaging in the nightly meditation rituals.

“I was just wondering ... do you still feel that way? After all these years to think about what had happened, after learning first-hand accounts from the people , the families he had hurt ... so you still think that?”

“Yes, Ben. I do.”

“How?”

“Ben, we’ve all got to have faith, in the Darth Vaders of this galaxy. We’ve got to hold on to the hope that no matter what a person does, deep down inside of them, there is still goodness. That’s the very basis of faith, and hope ... believing in something that you can’t see. Even when everybody else tells you that you’re wrong.”

They were within steps of the meditating students now, and Kylo lowered his voice significantly, as he said,

“Thank you, Uncle. For everything.”

He embraced the surprised older man fiercely, before going to sit on the ground with the other students. He closed his eyes. He could feel that his time here was coming to a close, and soon he would go back to his own reality. Deep breathing, hold in, let it out, one, two ...

Kylo sat up in bed with a jolt, looking around him wildly. He was disoriented; he knew he was back in his old bed, in his own time. But he could still feel the hot sunshine on his face, he could smell the tree flowers and the water of the nearby lake surrounding the temple. He could feel the dry scratchiness of his uncles robes, as he hugged him.

“Kylo? Kylo?? Are you alright?”

It took him a few foggy seconds to connect the voice to a face, to realize that Hux was with him, shaking him, his eyes full of concern.

“I’m ... I’m okay. I’m okay,” Kylo told him, shaking the last cobwebs from his brain. “I’m fine.”

Hux walked out of the room for a few moments, and came back in with a glass of cold water, which he handed to Kylo. Kylo drank it all down slowly, both hands clutching the glass against his chest. Hux watched him silently, before saying,

“So ... did it work?”

Kylo finished his water and set the glass on the nightstand.

“It worked.”

“How was it?”, Hux asked him, bursting with curiosity. “Were you able to visit the correct day? Did ...”

Quite suddenly, and without warning, Kylo burst into tears. The emotional toll of the day had finally caught up to him, and he hunched over, his face buried in his hands and painful cries shaking his whole body.

“I miss them all so much!”, he sobbed helplessly. “Oh, God, I’m so sorry for what I did! Im sorry I’m sorry I’m SORRY I’m ...”

And then Hux’s arms were around him, holding him, absorbing his pain. He rocked him back and forth slowly, as one would a wayward child, stroking his hair and humming.

Eventually, after some time had passed, Kylo’s hysteria lessened, and he very slowly calmed down. He refused to let go of Hux, though, as he felt the redhead was the one thing keeping him anchored to reality.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Hux was murmuring, still soothing him. “I know you’re hurting, sweetheart, but it’s okay. Get it out. It’s okay.”

“I said sorry,” Kylo said huskily, his arms still around Hux. “They didn’t know what I was apologizing for, but I did say sorry. And ... and I said that I love them.” Kylo took a long, shuddering breath. “I know that’s stupid, considering it doesn’t change anything now, but ...”

“It’s not stupid. Not at all, not in the least. If it made it feel better ...”

“It did. It really did.”

“Then it’s not stupid.”

Sniffling, Kylo asked, “If you had done this, when would YOU have gone back to?”

“Oh, that’s easy; it’d be the day I met you.”

Kylo looked up at him. “Why? Out of all the days you could pick? I was horrible to you on that day! I was rude, I stepped on your foot maybe a dozen times, I ...”

“Yes. You were awful. But at the same time, my heart would pound so hard every single time you came within five feet of me. Did you know that I kept trying to make you mad on purpose, so that you would keep coming near me?”

Kylo put his face against the side of Hux’s neck, breathing in deeply. “You were an odd man, back then,” he said, softly.

“No, I was an in-love man who had no former idea of what that word even meant, or how to process is. Thankfully, I think my behavior has improved since then ... although there’s still times I try to make you mad on purpose, just to keep you around me.”

A chuckle, a hug, and then, finally, Kylo was able to separate himself from Hux’s arms. He wiped at his damp eyes and said, “I should probably be getting ready. You, too. It’s morning, right? We have so much to ...”

“No we don’t,” Hux said, grinning. “I talked to Snoke, convinced him that we haven’t paid a friendly, diplomatic visit to our allies on Naboo in a long while. So he said we can both go.”

“R-really?”

Hux nodded. “I figure we’d spend about an hour with the Governor. Then, well, we’ve got the whole day to ourselves. We haven’t had that in so long, just me and you. I thought maybe we’d have a picnic by the lake? Take a walk through the ...”

Kylo cut him off, grabbing his face and kissing him.

“If there’s one thing, the ONLY thing, that I don’t regret about where I am now,” Kylo told him softly, as he let go, “It’s YOU.”

Hux blushed, then leaned back into Kylo, putting his arms around him. “High praise, indeed.”

He kissed him once more before getting up and heading for the door. I’m going to go back to my place, and get ready. I’ll come back for you in about half an hour, Okay?”

Kylo nodded. “Ok. I’ll be ready.”

Hux left, and Kylo sat for a long time, staring down at his feet. Eventually, he pulled himself up, and began to dress.

It was too late to fix a great many things in his life; Kylo knew that, and he forced himself to accept it. The most important thing he could do for himself would be to focus on the here, and the now, and ...

“The future,” he said out-loud to himself, smiling a little. When he finished dressing, he rummaged around in his closet, to the small box he had kept hidden there for weeks.

He opened it; the pretty gold band with its single diamond stared back at him, as if wondering whether today would finally be _THE_ day, that Kylo would gather the courage, and ...

His DataPad buzzed insistently. Kylo picked it up; a message flashed at him in red coding:

**Are you ready?**

Kylo smiled, and slipped the ring box carefully into his pocket.

He WAS ready.

So he walked out the door, a smile on his face, on his way to meet with his future.


End file.
